AHA Creative Strategies

Richmond Centre to Host the Real Santa

Richmond, B.C. & North Pole – The real Santa, accompanied by Mrs. Claus and 38 of his top elves, will spend six weeks at Richmond Centre starting November 13, announced North Pole spokesperson and Senior Elf, VP Communications Reginald Rufus.

According to Rufus, Santa will arrive at the mall on Friday, November 13 at 7 p.m. in a GM zero-emission, Fuel Cell Chevrolet Equinox and will then lead Mrs. Claus, his merry band of elves and anyone who wants to believe in the magic of Christmas on a parade through Richmond Centre. He will commute back and forth to the North Pole, as necessary, as he prepares for one of the most exciting nights of the year for the jolly old man (Christmas, in case you forgot!).

“Santa chose Richmond Centre as his home base to visit with children this year because of the multicultural demographics in the city and how the people of Richmond would help him spread the spirit of Christmas around the world,” said Rufus via satellite from the North Pole. He added: “Santa is looking forward to seeing the children of Richmond this year and he knows that there are many people in Richmond that might be grown up, but are still children at heart.”

“We are thrilled that Santa chose Richmond again this year,” said Leslie Matheson, Director of Marketing, Richmond Centre. “Christmas is a magical time of year and having Father Christmas at Richmond Centre has everyone here very excited. The world is a very big place and that Santa has chosen to spend the six weeks just before Christmas here, is quite an honour for us.”

Throughout Santa’s visit, there will be many activities at Richmond Centre. They include:

Visits and Photos with Santa

Daily Elf Inspections

School of Christmas – classroom and theatre sessions

Santa Live! (Streaming live video of the child’s visit with Santa.)

Santa, Mrs. Claus and all 38 elves have their own trading card that they will hand out to courteous little boys and girls (and grown-ups), when asked politely. Santa’s card is a magical trading card that creates a 3D image of old Saint Nick, when it is held up to a web cam. Santa 3.0, is what he’s calling it.

Said Matheson: “Santa at Richmond Centre is an interactive experience. There is something to do for everyone – young and old alike. The spirit of the season, goodwill towards others, and kindness and joy will come to life here at Richmond Centre when Santa arrives. We’re hoping that not only will everyone who comes to see Santa embrace that, but that they will carry a little piece of it with them all year ‘round.”

Richmond Centre is one of the Lower Mainland’s largest shopping complexes with 240 stores and services. Located in the centre of Richmond, on the corner of Westminster Hwy and Minoru Boulevard, Richmond Centre is owned and managed by two of the largest developers in Canada, Cadillac Fairview Corporation Ltd. and Ivanhoe Cambridge II Inc.

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For further information, interviews with Santa or media access, please contact: Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies at paul@ahacreative.com or by phone at 604-303-1052.

Please note: The PR team does not have any influence over Santa. If you haven’t been good, there is not much we can do about it – except advise you to start now!